In the book 1984, there are 3 defined classes: Inner Party members, Outer Party members, and proletarians. Proles are looked down and treated with disdain by the other classes, but in the end, is it better to be a prole? In this society, being a prole instead of a member of the Party is preferred, because they have a much better quality of life and more freedom. Even though proles are considered inferior to Party members, they are considered extremely instinctive and trustworthy. Even though the Outer Party members believe the rumors that are spread about them, they still take their word. As an example, Winston believed the prole when he claims there is a rocket bomb coming, and ultimately saves his life. (pg. 87). As well as when Winston …show more content…
As the Party’s food is always described as untasteful, crumbly or disgusting-tasting, prole food is much richer and very tasteful. Proles also do not have rations, since there are proletarian markets. One of the examples of this is Victory drinks compared to prole drinks. Victory coffee is not described in much detail, but Julia calls it filthy, implying that is disgusting and that it does not taste good. (pg 147). Winston seems to almost be captivated by proletarian coffee, describing the smell as powerful and exciting, with a silky texture. (pg. 152). Victory gin is described many times in the book though, illustrated with a strong oily smell, and compared to nitric acid. (pg 7). But proles do not sell Victory Gin, they sell and drink beer, which is superior in taste. Prole chocolate also has a better taste than the Party’s chocolate rations. Chocolate rations are expressed are crumbly, with the taste of a trash fire. (pg 127). On the other hand, when Julia gives Winston chocolate that she had bought from the black market, it is an experience for him. Described with a powerful scent again, he also states that the taste is delightful, and enjoys eating it. (pg 128). As well as that, when Winston stopped drinking gin and ate more prole food, he gains more weight and his health problems start to fade away. (pg 157). This shows that the prole food is better for sustaining your body, and that it is quite possible that Party
In Paul Fussel’s book Class, he proposes a new sort of class of people, those who don’t fit into the nine categories he has discussed previously in the book (top out-of-sight, upper, upper middle, middle, high proletarian, mid-proletarian, low proletarian, destitute, and bottom out-of-sight). This new class he calls “X people” and describes them as curious, creative, talented, irreverent, and self-sufficient. Those who belong to this new class do not care which class one comes from and do not care what others think of them and their relationships with people outside their class.
Between the poem, ¨ No one died in Tiananmen Square¨ by William Lutz and the novel, 1984 by George Orwell there are multiple similarities. Subjects such as their government, their denial of history, and the use of doublethink and re-education are all parallel between the novel and the poem. For instance, both the governments have a highly strict government. Their governments are so controlling of their people that they use brute force in order to help re-educate them. For example, in 1984 the main character, Winston Smith was trying to go against their government, The Party, and because he tries to do so, he is placed in The Ministry of Love and brutally beaten by the man whom he assumed was a part of the Brotherhood, O'Brien. O'Brien claimed
If you have ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell, then an interesting topic may have crossed your mind. The way the classes of people break down can be quite similar, and very different at times. In the United States, we have classes like the lower class, the working class, and the middle class. In 1984, there were such classes as the Proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. The way the classes are broken down in 1984 reminds me a little bit of my old history class. When I studied medieval times and the classes back then were broken down into the nobles, the bourgeois, and the serfs.
There is also no hope of rebellion from actual party members, this is one instance where Thoreau’s ideas falter. Even Winston admits early on in the novel that the government could never be brought down from the inside, “If there is hope…it lies in the proles.” (Orwell, p. 69) The Party could not be destroyed from within, because the Thought Police are all powerful and all watching. But the proles are not educated and generally don’t care whatsoever about the Party. The only time the Party is of interest is the lottery, but even that is rigged. “Until they become conscious they will never rebel.” (Orwell, p. 70) Because the proles are ultimately unaffected, they will never rise up and take hold of the opportunity to overthrow the Party. Thoreau was correct on the ignorant and unaffected not taking charge or making change, and he was also correct on the government being unable to correct itself, but in the case of wanting those to put their own conscience before the law it is impossible in the world of 1984.
thought. The middle working class, or the “regular'; party, did all the work that the inner party wanted to be done, in order to keep the population, including themselves, in control of everyone. The third, and lowest, class is the proles. The party does not even watch or
From the beginning of the novel, it was inevitable that Big brother would eventually win, and Winston would be caught by the thought police. He could never have an immediate affect on the Party. His long and pointless struggle achieved no result in the end, and finally was brainwashed and lost any freedom of thought he once had.
They have no idea people are getting tortured to death, or that the Party is turning families against each other, or that the upper classes are watched at all times. If they did know all this, then maybe they would revolt. But because the Party is strong and knows exactly how to control the proles, this lower class will always be clueless and will never think of overthrowing the Party. The Party gives them what they want to satisfy their needs and desires. The proles are happy with their ignorance. All this shows that due to the proles’ ignorance, the Party gets to keep its strength and continue its
). Did Orwell realise quite what he had done in Nineteen Eighty-Four? His post-publication glosses on its meaning reveal either blankness or bad faith even about its contemporary political implications. He insisted, for example, that his 'recent novel [was] NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or on the British Labour Party (of which I am a supporter)'.(1) He may well not have intended it but that is what it can reasonably be taken to be. Warburg saw this immediately he had read the manuscript, and predicted that Nineteen Eighty-Four '[was] worth a cool million votes to the Conservative Party';(2) the literary editor of the Evening Standard 'sarcastically prescribed it as "required reading" for Labour Party M.P.s',(3) and, in the US, the Washington branch of the John Birch Society 'adopted "1984" as the last four digits of its telephone number'.(4) Moreover, Churchill had made the 'inseparably interwoven' relation between socialism and totalitarianism a plank in his 1945 election campaign(5) (and was not the protagonist of Nineteen Eighty-Four called Winston?). If, ten years earlier, an Orwell had written a futuristic fantasy in which Big Brother had had Hitler's features rather than Stalin's, would not the Left, whatever the writer's proclaimed political sympathies, have welcomed it as showing how capitalism, by its very nature, led to totalitarian fascism?
In the dystopian text, 1984, by George Orwell the reader is exposed to an environment where the government or ‘party’ exerts complete control over the public. They maintain this power through the use of technology and depriving the public of any privacy or personal opinions. Throughout the novel we experience different character’s views and uses of technology; O’Brien’s use of technology to establish control, Charington use of technology to prevent rebellion against the party and Winston and Julia’s avoidance of technology to try to establish their own lives, away from the control of the government.
In 1984 many government issues take place, for instance propaganda, secret police, brainwashing, and a wide manner of other devices to oppress their populations. The idea is to illustrate the dangers of totalitarian government whether it be Communist, Fascist, or otherwise. Totalitarianism is an imposing form of government which the political authority exercises control over all aspects of life such as their sex life, and health in general. “If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can't have any result whatever, you've beaten them” (George Orwell, 1984). Also psychological manipulation and mind control are a big controversy in 1984. Psychological manipulation is a social influence that moves towards the behavior of others through deceptive, or even abusive tactics. “And so it was with every class of recorded fact, great or small. Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain” (book 1, chapter 4). The author, Orwell wants the readers to think that the government monitors and controls everything that the humans do, and that basically everything that people do are against the law.
“Bathes Roland (1977) “The explanation of a work is always sought in the man or women who produced it.” The values, beliefs and attitudes of George Orwell’s can easily be seen in the novel 1984, as no text is neutral. These values attitudes and beliefs are communicated in the novel through socio-cultural context and by the use of certain discourses, ideologies, and historical influences. The invited reading of 1984 is that absolute power is problematic as evidenced by a totalitarism regime.
They dedicate themselves fully and without question to the Party and, if provoked, would not hesitate to turn Winston over to the Thought Police." Parsons is a very pro big brother outer party member, we see this because even though he is arrested for thought crime, he still accepts that
Although discarded in both societies, the Proles in 1984 and the Factionless in Divergent have the power and number to overthrow any faction or party. In both novels, the higher classes look down upon these groups as weak, poor, dirty, and hungry individuals. Due to the fact that the other parties neglect and reject both of these groups, they live free from the rules of Big Brother and the Faction leaders. In Orwell’s 1984, the Proles make up 80% of the population, but spend most of their time working for the society. Unlike the Proles, the Factionless consists of individuals incapable of adjusting to one of the factions in their society, leaving them on the streets with no job or place to live. Ironically, both groups have the potential to overthrow any Faction or the Party, but the Parties and factions still view them as harmless and
“Ignorance is strength” is true considering the fact that the party is outnumbered by the rest of the population, especially the proles. The proles have the least amount of knowledge as to what is actually going on in their world, which is why the Party easily gets away with all of their manipulative tactics. Since the proles are disregarded from society, but more notably, are unbothered by the Party, they have no desire to rebel against the strict hierarchical structure imposed by Big Brother. The Party makes their own reality by holding the power to alter the past in whatever way they please and the people do not have the mindset to object. “But by far the more important reason for the readjustment of the past is the need to safeguard the infallibility of the Party." This explains why manipulation is crucial for the Party to stay in absolute power. They want the masses to believe what they are told in spite of what they might think otherwise. Doublethink is the most effective way the party manipulates their people to avoid free thinking. Doublehink is a practice that keeps individuals free of their own thoughts. This is how the Party gets away with all the lying they do in the Ministry of Truth. Through the propagandas and the Ministry of Truth, the Party also define what is true and what is false. O’Brien once said to Winston, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present
The idea of the future has been explored for as long as writers have been writing. The interesting concept about the future is that it will always remain a mystery. The future is always changing and never ending. In George Orwell’s 1984, Orwell ruminates on his thoughts and ideas of what the future will be like. Orwell wrote the book around 1950 during the writing era of postmodernism. Postmodernist books often expressed thoughts of the future, as well as other themes. 1984 describes the future as a place where the Party has taken over and controls everything and everyone. The residents of Oceania have no control over their bodies, their relationships, or even their thoughts. Oceania is a place of war and control. The protagonist in 1984 is a middle-aged man named Winston. Winston is one of the only living people who realize that the party is changing the facts, and he wants to do something about it (Orwell). Winston deals with the struggles of hiding from the law and who to trust. In 1984, George Orwell uses the themes of physical and mental control, forbidden love, and a “big brother” figure to exhibit characteristics of postmodernism.